19 Facts About Maurice Ronet

1.

Maurice Ronet was a French film actor, director, and writer.

2.

Maurice Ronet was born Maurice Julien Marie Robinet in Nice, Alpes Maritimes.

3.

Maurice Ronet was the only child of professional stage actors Emile Robinet and Gilberte Dubreuil.

4.

Maurice Ronet made his stage debut at the age of 14 alongside his parents in Sacha Guitry's Deux couverts in Lausanne.

5.

Maurice Ronet acted occasionally in small roles in the films of French directors like Yves Ciampi and Rene Wheeler, with ambitions of becoming a filmmaker himself.

6.

Maurice Ronet became one of European cinema's more prolific actors.

7.

Maurice Ronet often portrayed characters who were in conflict with themselves or society.

8.

Maurice Ronet first garnered acclaim at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival for a supporting role in Jean Dreville's Endless Horizons and over the next few years as the romantic lead in Andre Michel's La sorciere and in Jules Dassin's Maurice Ronet Who Must Die,.

9.

Maurice Ronet originated the role of Philippe Greenleaf in Purple Noon, Rene Clement's adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley.

10.

Maurice Ronet was awarded France's Crystal Star and the prize for Best Actor at the 1965 Sao Paulo Film Festival; the film won a Special Jury Prize at the 1963 Venice Film Festival.

11.

Maurice Ronet co-starred with Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in The Swimming Pool directed by Jacques Deray.

12.

Maurice Ronet was originally cast as Ali in Lawrence of Arabia.

13.

Maurice Ronet made his directorial debut with The Thief of Tibidabo, a self-reflexive, picaresque crime story shot in Barcelona, in which he starred with Anna Karina.

14.

Maurice Ronet followed it with two documentaries: Vers l'ile des dragons, an allegorical journey to Indonesia to film the Komodo dragon and a report on the building of a dam in Cabora Bassa, Mozambique for French television.

15.

Maurice Ronet directed and produced more programs for television: his own acclaimed adaptation of Herman Melville's Bartleby in 1976 as well as adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe and Cornell Woolrich stories.

16.

Maurice Ronet wrote two books: "L'ile des dragons", a personal recollection and a chronicle of the making of Vers l'ile des dragons, and "Le metier de comedien", an honest and thorough discussion of the acting profession.

17.

Maurice Ronet lived there, and in Paris, with Josephine Chaplin from 1977 until his death; their son Julien was born in 1980.

18.

Maurice Ronet died in a Paris hospital, of cancer, aged 55.

19.

Maurice Ronet is buried at the cemetery near his home.